In recent years, there has been a virtual explosion in the popularity of exercise and physical fitness because of the significant effect it can have on the quality of life. There are many popular forms of physical exercise including, for example, running, bicycling, and weight training. The growing interest in weight training is reflected by the growing number of gyms found in both public and private settings.
There are various types of weight training equipment. Typical weight machines, for example, use gravity as the primary source of resistance. A combination of simple machines (e.g., pulleys, levers, wheels, inclines, etc.) to change the mechanical advantage of the overall machine relative to the weight and convey the resistance to the person using the machine. Conventional stacked weight machines, such as those made by Cybex International, Inc. and Nautilus, Inc., typically include a stack of rectangular weight plates through which a vertical lifting bar passes. The lifting bar includes a plurality of holes configured to accept a pin. Each of the plates has a corresponding channel on its underside (or a hole through the middle) that aligns with one of the holes in the lifting bar when the lifting bar is in the lowered or at-rest position. To lift a selected number of the plates, the user inserts the pin through the channel and the corresponding hole in the lift bar at a selected weight level. As the user goes through the exercise motion, the lift bar rises and the pin supports all of the plates stacked above it. The various settings on the weight machine allow the user to select from several different levels of resistance over the same range of motion by simply inserting the pin into the lift bar at a desired weight level.
Conventional weight pins usually include a cylindrical shaft made of stainless steel or other hard metal. In its simplest form, a weight pin can be made from a single piece of cylindrical metal rod that is bent slightly at one end to form a handle for inserting and removing the pin into a weight stack. Other types of weight pins can include a plastic or metal handle portion that is attached to the cylindrical shaft which is inserted into the weight stack. The shaft can include spring-loaded ball bearings and/or other locking features to releasably engage the pin with the weight stack and prevent it from becoming dislodged during use of the weight machine. Some pins with locking features include a push button on the handle to facilitate engagement of the locking feature with the weight stack and/or lifting bar. One such pin is the Avibank AVK Push BIS6T840S lock pin.
One important aspect of any type of exercise program is the ability to track personal performance and progress. For example, people engaged in endurance or distance forms of exercise (e.g., running, swimming, bicycling, etc.) often track the distance and/or time associated with a particular run, swim, ride, etc. Similarly, people using cardiovascular exercise machines (e.g., treadmills, stair-steppers, stationary bicycles, etc.) are often interested in knowing how long they exercise or how many calories they burn during a particular session.
One shortcoming of conventional weight machines, however, is that they lack a convenient way for the user to track and record his or her progress on a particular machine or group of machines during a particular exercise session or over a given period of time. As a result, people engaged in weight training programs often rely on memory to keep track of how many weights they lifted on a particular occasion, or how many repetitions they performed on a particular machine. Rather then rely on memory, some people use notebooks to manually record information about their workout. Neither of these approaches, however, is particularly convenient. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide users of weight training equipment with the ability to record their progress and performance on a wide range of weight machines in a convenient manner.
Persons doing calisthenics and other types of “free weight” exercises also lack a convenient way to record the number of exercise repetitions they perform. For example, a person doing sit-ups has no easy way to automatically record the number of sit-ups he or she performs during a workout. The same is true for similar types of exercise such as chin-ups, jumping jacks, squats, push-ups, etc. Likewise, a person doing curls, bench press, or other types of weight training with one or more barbells also lacks a convenient way to record his or her effort. Accordingly, it would also be advantageous to provide persons doing these types of repetitive exercises with the ability to record their progress and performance in a convenient manner.